These Four Walls
by Save.The.Werewolves.111
Summary: The worst part about all this was he couldn't protect them anymore." OneShot;; James Potter reflecting. Lyrics by Shawn Colvin. Review please!


**A/N: **Okay, so I know the facts here are a little off (things such as timeline, and the fact that the killing curse kills right away) but I was just struck with this idea and decided to go with it. The song is These Four Walls by Shawn Colvin. Please review, and tell me what you think!

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_I'm gonna die in these four walls  
I've had enough and I've tried it all  
I'll watch the day break and I'll see the night fall  
In these four walls_

He wished he could move to a more comfortable position. But that would take too much energy, and would probably only hurt more. Then again, what was the point of saving energy or preventing pain? He was only going to die soon, anyway. And besides, he would rather die in a more comfortable position.

_Show me trouble and I'll take him down  
I drew a line on this patch of ground  
Everything's safe and everything's sound  
In these four walls_

James remembered when they had bought this house. How perfect it had seemed, an amazing place to raise a family and to have friends over. How Lily had spent months decorating the place; picking out curtains, and wall paper, and carpets. How she had obsessed over furnishing the nursery when she had found out she was pregnant. It was their home. _Their home_. It had sounded so right, and to this day, it still did. It was still their home. He had tried to protect it, but apparently that wasn't enough. Damn it, he was so stupid. He had left his wand sitting on the living room sofa. He remembered now, feeling like he was forgetting something when he had run to the door. Damn, damn, damn. The worst part about all this was knowing he couldn't protect them anymore. Any of them.

_Up on the rooftop  
I can remember  
Borders I had to break  
Now I can see I have a life  
To make_

James remembered the week he graduated from Hogwarts. How his parents threw a graduation party for him and all his friends. After the part, after almost everyone had gone home and it was just him and the marauders, they had climbed up to the roof of his parent's house. They just sat there, and after a while one of them, James couldn't remember which one, mentioned their future. It had been so uncertain at the time. But it was scarier sitting here now, knowing there was no future left. They had all hoped to make something of themselves, something great. Though right here, right now, it was gruesomely apparent what Peter's definition of 'great' was. It was power.

_I'm gonna miss your southern drawl  
A baby's footsteps in an empty hall  
And every little thing I can ever recall  
In these four walls_

James remembered his parents. How his father had come to England from America to attend Hogwarts, and then met his mother. How when you really listened to Mr. Potter talking, you could still hear the hint of his southern accent. How his mother had cried once James and Lily had moved into the house and the Fidelius Charm had gone up.

"Promise me…" she had said. "Promise me you'll come back?"

"I can't make any promises," he had responded.

That was true. James wasn't one to back out on promises made. And clearly, he wouldn't be going anywhere anymore.

James remembered his son. All the little things babies do that make their parents swell with pride, no matter how insignificant. Tiny little events that had taken place in their home. And now, his wife and son were most certainly dead.

_Up on the rooftop  
Feel like you're flying  
Thinking your heart could break  
Oh, can't you see we have this love  
To make_

James remembered the night he had proposed. He had a grand plan; to take her out to dinner where he had reserved a private room for them, and after the dessert course, he would ask her. He already had permission from her parents, even if it was slightly reluctant. But James couldn't make it past the appetizers before he proposed. It was so grand, they had their whole lives ahead of them, and they'd spend their lives together. That was also true. They had spent their dying day together. He just wished it had come a little later.

_I'm gonna die in these four walls  
I've had enough and I've tried it all  
I'll watch the day break and I'll see the night fall  
In these four walls_

As James Potter lay in a house that held the shocked silence of a home filled with death, he slowly shut his eyes, giving up. He still hadn't mustered up the energy to roll off of the stair railing he lay on. And as he let death seep into the corners of his brain, he thought he heard a baby crying.


End file.
